System and method for managing fueling in a worksite

Abstract

A computer-implemented method for determining that a worksite machine requires refuelling is described. The method involves accessing incident message information and known worksite information; processing the incident message and known worksite information to generate state information; processing the state and known worksite information to generate situation information; and processing the situation and known worksite information to determine that the worksite machine has insufficient fuel to complete the tasks currently assigned to the worksite machine.

1 . A computer-implemented method for determining a worksite machine requires refuelling, the method comprising:
 operating a processing unit to access incident message information, said incident message information selected from a group comprising: reported operational state information with respect to the worksite machine; reported payload information with respect to the worksite machine; reported cycle information with respect to the worksite machine; reported position information with respect to the worksite machine; and reported fuel information with respect to the worksite machine;   operating said processing unit to access known worksite information selected from a group comprising: known machine parameter information with respect to the worksite machine; known assignment information with respect to the worksite machine; known route information with respect to one or more routes to be travelled by the worksite machine; and known production plan information;   operating said processing unit to process said incident message information and said known worksite information to generate state information, said state information selected from a group comprising: fuel level state information in respect of the worksite machine; surface state information in respect of the worksite; operational state state information in respect of the worksite machine; position state information in respect of the worksite machine; payload state information in respect of the worksite machine; path state information in respect of the worksite machine; and operating hours state information in respect of the worksite machine;   operating said processing unit to process said state information and said known worksite information to generate situation information, said situation information selected from a group comprising: fuel usage situation information with respect to the worksite machine; current location situation information with respect to the worksite machine; current load state situation information with respect to the worksite machine; and destination situation information with respect to the worksite machine;   operating said processing unit to process said situation information and said known worksite information to determine that the worksite machine has insufficient fuel to complete the tasks currently assigned to the worksite machine.   
     
     
         2 . A computer-implemented method according to  claim 1 , wherein determining that the worksite machine has insufficient fuel to complete the tasks currently assigned comprises determining that the worksite machine has insufficient fuel to reach a destination defined by the destination situation information. 
     
     
         3 . A computer-implemented method according to  claim 2 , wherein the destination situation information is derived from the known assignment information with respect to the worksite machine. 
     
     
         4 . A computer-implemented method according to  claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises operating said processing unit to generate a refuelling instruction for transmission to said worksite machine. 
     
     
         5 . A computer-implemented method according to  claim 4 , wherein the method further comprises transmitting the refuelling instruction to the worksite machine. 
     
     
         6 . A computer-implemented method according to  claim 1 , wherein the incident message information further comprises information from a loading machine involved in loading material into the worksite machine. 
     
     
         7 . A computer-implemented method according to  claim 1 , wherein said payload state information comprises payload weight state information and payload material state information in respect of the worksite machine. 
     
     
         8 . A computer-implemented method according to  claim 1 , wherein the reported fuel information comprises fuel level information with respect to the worksite machine. 
     
     
         9 . A computer-implemented method according to  claim 1 , wherein the estimated fuel level of the worksite machine is estimated using a Kalman filter process 
     
     
         10 . A computer-implemented method according to  claim 8 , wherein inputs to the Kalman filter process comprise known machine parameter information, reported fuel information, and reported cycle information. 
     
     
         11 . A computer-implemented method according to  claim 1 , wherein in order to generate the fuel usage situation information the processing unit processes the fuel level state information, the surface state information, the operational state state information, the position state information, the path state information, and the operating hours state information. 
     
     
         12 . A computer-implemented method according to  claim 1 , wherein in order to generate the fuel usage situation information the processing unit processes the fuel level state information, the surface state information, the operational state state information, the position state information, the path state information, and the operating hours state information using regression techniques. 
     
     
         13 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions which, when implemented by a computer processing system, cause the computer processing system to:
 access incident message information, said incident message information selected from a group comprising: reported operational state information with respect to the worksite machine; reported payload information with respect to the worksite machine; reported cycle information with respect to the worksite machine; reported position information with respect to the worksite machine; and reported fuel information with respect to the worksite machine;   access known worksite information selected from a group comprising: known machine parameter information with respect to the worksite machine; known assignment information with respect to the worksite machine; known route information with respect to one or more routes to be travelled by the worksite machine; and known production plan information;   process said incident message information and said known worksite information to generate state information, said state information selected from a group comprising: fuel level state information in respect of the worksite machine; surface state information in respect of the worksite; operational state state information in respect of the worksite machine; position state information in respect of the worksite machine; payload state information in respect of the worksite machine; path state information in respect of the worksite machine; and operating hours state information in respect of the worksite machine;   process said state information and said known worksite information to generate situation information, said situation information selected from a group comprising: fuel usage situation information with respect to the worksite machine; current location situation information with respect to the worksite machine; current load state situation information with respect to the worksite machine; and destination situation information with respect to the worksite machine;   process said situation information and said known worksite information to determine that the worksite machine has insufficient fuel to complete the tasks currently assigned to the worksite machine.   
     
     
         14 . A computer processing system comprising:
 means for accessing incident message information, said incident message information selected from a group comprising: reported operational state information with respect to the worksite machine; reported payload information with respect to the worksite machine; reported cycle information with respect to the worksite machine; reported position information with respect to the worksite machine; and reported fuel information with respect to the worksite machine;   means for accessing known worksite information selected from a group comprising: known machine parameter information with respect to the worksite machine; known assignment information with respect to the worksite machine; known route information with respect to one or more routes to be travelled by the worksite machine; and known production plan information;   means for processing said incident message information and said known worksite information to generate state information, said state information selected from a group comprising: fuel level state information in respect of the worksite machine; surface state information in respect of the worksite; operational state state information in respect of the worksite machine; position state information in respect of the worksite machine; payload state information in respect of the worksite machine; path state information in respect of the worksite machine; and operating hours state information in respect of the worksite machine;   means for processing said state information and said known worksite information to generate situation information, said situation information selected from a group comprising: fuel usage situation information with respect to the worksite machine; current location situation information with respect to the worksite machine; current load state situation information with respect to the worksite machine; and destination situation information with respect to the worksite machine;
 operating said processing unit to process said situation information and said known worksite information to determine that the worksite machine has insufficient fuel to complete the tasks currently assigned to the worksite machine.